The work of groups and teams can be viewed as collective activity systems which are carried out by people in support of their interpretations of their role, the opportunities and resources available to them, and the purpose for which the activity exists. Using the language of activity theory, this is both subjective, in the sense that it is a matter for individual interpretation, and objective, in the sense that the motives, purpose, and context are a vital part of the reality of human work. An activity is defined by the dialectic relationship between a subject (i.e., a person or small group of people) and the object of their work, which includes purpose, motive, and context. An activity both mediates and is mediated by the tools used and the social context of the work activity. This two-way concept of mediation implies that the capability and availability of tools mediates what can be done, and the tool in turn evolves to hold the historical knowledge of how a society works and is organized.
Published in Chapter:
Complex Organizations and Information Systems
Leoni Warne (Department of Defence, Australia), Helen Hasan (University of Wollongong, Australia), and Henry Linger (Monash University, Australia)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-026-4.ch102
Abstract
In modern organizations, information, and particularly knowledge, is known to be the most strategically important resource. The defining characteristics of modern organizational forms are purported to be flatter hierarchies, decentralized decision making, greater capacity for tolerance of ambiguity, permeable boundaries, capacity for renewal, self-organizing units, continual change, and an increasingly complex environment (Daft & Lewin, 1993; Warne, Ali, Bopping, Hart, & Pascoe, 2004). Yet, many systems that are developed to support organizational activities continue to fail at an alarming rate (Hart & Warne, 2005; Warne, 2002). Many explanations have been offered for such failures (e.g., DeLone & McLean, 1992; Fortune & Peters, 2005; Lyytinen & Hirschheim, 1987; Sauer, 1993; Warne, 2002), but contradictions and stresses continue to confound organizations and their use of information and communications technology (ICT). The challenge for information systems (IS) research and practice is to articulate an organizational paradigm, including its structures, forms, and systems, that will enable the organization to be agile, innovative, and have the capacity to learn. This article discusses some of the parameters for a new contemporary model for organizations.